Norris Family News

My joy is so great that it weakens me like a wound...

I have mentioned my favorite quote from the Chronicles of Narnia in earlier posts which is “My joy is so great that it weakens me like a wound, and my greatest joy is that He would call me 'Beloved.'” Last week we met a young man who embodies this quote. We met Ricardo and his wife Dianna and their four children last week at the Casa de la Nueva Vida orphanage where they work doing maintenance and other helps. While the children were playing, Erika and I sat down to get to know this young man whose face positively shines with joy and laughter. His countenance is such that the moment you see him, you want to know what makes him tick.

Ricardo began to live in the streets as a boy. He said his parents did not love him in the sense that they didn't seem to care if he was around or not. He became involved in the “Cholo” (gangster) lifestyle, slept under bridges and in parks, and quenched his pain with drugs and alcohol. As far as he was concerned, nobody loved him and he hardly even knew the concept of love. Then, when he was 16, he met the Lord Jesus through the ministry of a Juarez church that reaches out to street people and gangsters. Ricardo told us his story with great emotion. We could almost feel the total lostness of his life on the streets. Then he said, “When I understood that the Lord Jesus loves me in spite of all my sin, and when I understood how much he loves me, I wept and wept and wept.” He drew his fingers down from his eyes to show the tears. Then the joyous memory overtook him and he wept again in front of us. From that day forward he was a new young man who forsook the drugs and alcohol, earrings and other gang markings, and began to walk whole-heartedly after the Lord Jesus.

Yesterday we went as a family to Ricardo and Dianna's house to visit. As Erika put it, “I had no idea so much joy and fun could be had in an 8x12 room!” We visited for almost three hours, sharing stories and singing songs about the Lord in Spanish and in English. We also heard Dianna's story. She was also rejected by her parents and was on her own at age 10. She is from a city further south and made her way to Juarez. She used makeup and fake papers to pretend to be much older and secure a job in a factory! She certainly doesn't lack any ambition! She lived with various people for short periods of time not really getting to know anyone. She acknowledged that it was very dangerous, but felt that she had no choice. She pulled this off for nearly two years before she contracted tuberculosis. She got very sick, was coughing up blood, and had a tiny fraction of functioning lung capacity. The doctor told her she was very sick and that she shouldn't expect to live more than three months. But then, at the same street mission where Ricardo met his Lord (a few years later than Dianna), Dianna received complete healing! She was delivered from her sins and her health was completely restored. That was ten years ago, and now we sat in her living room with her husband and four lovely children; all of whom are bursting with health and the joy of salvation as though they had just met Him yesterday.

Wow. Praise God!

--Thaine

Relational Ministry

Last week the outreach team went to the Casa de la Nueva Vida orphange. Their hope was to be a blessing in some way to the children. The team fed the kids lunch, played games, did crafts, talked about the Lord Jesus, sang praise and worship songs with beautiful instruments, had a birthday cake for one of the girls, did some maintenance projects around the grounds (with the kids), etc. What a blast! There were smiles everywhere with laughter and joy filling the place.

But the most amazing thing to me was when the team prayed for the kids. Each family from the outreach team prayed for a handful of kids from the orphanage. In one family, the dad sat cross-legged with an orphan boy of seven or eight on his lap. As they prayed, the boy wept openly. Even though the boy speaks only Spanish and the dad was praying in English, it powerfully affected the boy, seeming to bless his heart deeply. There were tears of pain certainly, but also tears of joy as this family gave him longed-for, tender affection that overwhelmed him.

Is this true ministry? The boy has myriad physical needs and the ultimate need for the Savior. How does this short time address any of those glaring needs? It is the philosophy of IFM that we cannot react to the needs that we see. There are so many needs around us all the time that to do so would consume us completely; and there would still be needs. Instead, we must be sensitive to His leading and walk in what He is doing in a particular situation. Clearly the boy does not need to sit perpetually in someone's lap and weep perpetually, nor does he need to do it repeatedly. But for that one moment, in that situation, on that day, God blessed that boy with a tangible and overwhelming picture of the Father's love for him. The next day, when the team took the orphans to a park in Juarez, the same boy ran into the arms of the dad from the team--full of laughs and smiles--and we all played games and sports together as one extended family in the Lord.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.“

--Thaine

Living by Faith

I am writing this article for one reason; to give glory to the living God!

For a few years before we took the plunge into full-time missions, we had been reading dozens of missionary biographies each of which read like additional chapters of the Book of Acts. Not to diminish the testimony of the Scriptures, but there is something incredibly inspiring about reading more modern accounts of people doing and experiencing the same miraculous things as the apostles did. Clearly Jesus was speaking long term when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”

For example, one of my all time favorite books is Bruchko. It is an almost Indiana-Jones-like adventure in the Columbian jungle about 19-year-old Bruce Olson's experiences with the Motilone people; about how an entire people group was transformed by the resurrected Lord Jesus, and how their culture was not Westernized but perfected from within, keeping the uniqueness that God had given them as a people. Bruce Olson took on an almost legendary quality in my mind since I have read the book so many times. Imagine my awe when he came to speak in our tiny Washington town of Oak Harbor. I was amazed! “Bruce Olson? He's still alive?” And more quietly, “You mean he is a real person and all these things really happened?” Not only was he alive, but he had stories of all that had happened in his life since the book was written in the 1970s; about how he was captured by leftist guerillas in the late 80's and tortured for nine months; how he ended up being their teacher and friend, and how he led many of them to Christ, after which they forsook their warfare. Hearing it was like reading Acts chapter 12,123. It was glorious confirmation that the Kingdom of God is real, is contemporary, and that we can effect eternal changes in today's world.

Another favorite book is Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. Hudson Taylor is the revolutionary missionary to China from the late 19th century. Among his thousands of accomplishments including leading countless people to new life in Christ and founding the largest missions organization to China, he is best known for two things; he adopted Chinese dress in order to reach the people, and he lived by faith. By that I mean that he trusted God for all his needs. Not only did he trust God to provide food, clothing, and shelter for himself and his family, but he made it the policy of the China Inland Mission (CIM). CIM missionaries did not raise financial support, and still do not today. Instead they believe that God is calling them to the work and that they can therefore rely on Him to supply their “paychecks” so to speak. Literally thousands of CIM missionaries (now called OMF), over 140 years, have seen God provide not only for their own needs, but for schools, hospitals, and all the costly aspects of God's loving ministry to the Chinese people, and now greater Asia. In the book I read how God often allowed CIM missionaries to feel the pinch, but He always provided and always in a way that made the Divine source clear. God did not print new money, but rather directed those who were His (and even many who weren't) to give to the right people at the right time; but not in response to direct solicitation. The CIM policy was (and is still today) that solicitation for funds would be made by the missionaries, on their knees, directly to their Heavenly Father who is amply able to provide. (The accounts of the myriad instances of Divine Provision are awe-inspiring and truly demonstrate His love for us and His desired involvement in our daily lives. I highly recommend this book!)

The Scripture calls us to live by faith. In fact, that is the very basis of being a child of His. Hebrews 11:6 puts it rather bluntly, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” There are myriad aspects of living by faith. For example, the importance of our physical needs pales in comparison to the faith in God that enables us to choose righteously in the face of great temptation to do otherwise. I think it is a tendency for me to see “Christianity” (and God Himself by extension) as a set of really great life principles. To obey “Do unto others...” and “Turn the other cheek...” certainly requires great faith, but I could say that my faith was in the rightness of the principle, rather than in a sentient Being. But everything in our walking with God--time in prayer and in His Word, everything we had been reading, the life testimonies of the founders of IFM, the testimonies of believers we have met from all over the world, our own church fellowship, and many people we have met here and in Mexico--has led us to the firm conviction that God is not a principle, but a person who cares deeply for our welfare. He will also provide for our physical needs. Jesus said, in reference to our needs for food and clothing, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Trusting for our financial provision has been a very down-to-earth, nuts-and-bolts, way to see the hand of the living God in our lives. Like so many before us, we “felt led” of the Spirit to go to the mission field. The first huge confirmation for us was that He was “speaking” to both of us as a married couple about the same things and in the same way, but independently. How does one hear inaudible the voice of God? We can't explain it, but we both were impressed the same way; and undeniably. But the next greatest confirmation that we are in His will has been His loving provision for our family.

It is a biblical principal and a principle of our work ethic that the laborer is worthy of his wages. If I write code for a software company, then I can expect a paycheck from that company in exchange for my services. Likewise, it is reasonable for Erika to expect compensation for her work in a medical clinic. In each case, the employer wants us to work for them and therefore offers compensation; even attractive compensation. So it seemed essential to us that if God desires us to be working for Him full time, that He would provide the compensation. But what payroll company does God use? What are the terms of the compensation? We, as a society, take comfort in working for a company and having a regular paycheck. Without hesitation we put our faith in the company, its products and sales people, and the economy in general. If we are able to rest in that, fragile as it is, then how much more can we rest in the arms of our Heavenly Father Who is infinitely more faithful? Not only does His compensation plan cover all our needs but unlike any earthly employer, His plan goes beyond our needs and demonstrates His Loving Reality in the smallest aspects of our lives. God has abundantly provided for all our needs since we took the step of faith into missions. We believe this is where God wants us and He has confirmed that belief in many ways including providing for all our financial needs through unsolicited, mostly anonymous gifts. We also have some income through sales of my software, but it has only been a minor contribution.

Doubts still arise. The Scripture declares that we have an enemy, or rather that God has an enemy who is against Him and all He holds dear. That enemy likes to accuse me of being irresponsible by trusting in the God I cannot see, or that maybe that we mis-heard Him and are not really in His will and so cannot expect His help. So learning to trust Him for the very practical bills, groceries, medical bills, etc. has been (and continues to be) a refining process. Several times God has allowed the circumstances to test our faith and to be worked out in such a way that the Source is clear. On our trip from Colorado, our van was damaged (you can read about that here...) and was at a body shop for several weeks. When it came time to pick it up, we had to pay the $250 deductible. But we didn't have that much! We knew that this need was coming so we had been praying about it as a family. Our children had been asking for the specific amount. Overall we were very encouraged that God would provide somehow. Certainly a check would arrive in the mail, or we would be blessed by a wave of software sales, or something. But nothing came. Finally the day arrived to pick up the van. Mike, the HOC campus director, and another friend were to take me into El Paso. Mike asked that we go early since he had other business. Inwardly I thought, “Oh I wanted to wait for the mail to come. Surely a check will be there to cover this.” But we went early anyway. As we drove, I prayed for God's leading. What should I do? The only option I had was to write a check. But that check would bounce! Still, the more I thought and prayed about it, the more peace I had to do it. “That's it!” I thought, “God's provision will certainly be in the mail when we get back.” It was certainly a risk, but also an opportunity to walk in faith because of the peace He gave me at that time. I knew He was going to do something. So I wrote the check. I tore it from the book, and handed it to the clerk. The very moment my fingers released the check, my cell phone rang. I answered it and to my stunned surprise found that it was our friend Tony, at our bank in Colorado, asking for my checking account number so he could deposit some money for us! I finished the business and turned to Mike and said slowly, “Do you know what just happend?” Not only did God provide for the need, but He supplied the funds in the fastest possible way (direct deposit into the account from which the check would be drawn) and timed in such a way to place a giant exclamation point after His call to “Trust Me!” I must emphasize that He has not led us since to write checks like that. He used that single instance for His glorious purpose.

The next test came about two weeks later when the bulk of our monthly bills were coming due. The $250 for the deductible was great, but it is tiny compared to what was mounting for us. We continued to pray individually and as a family for our needs, but the enemy was having his way with me, filling me with doubts and anxiety. I struggled to remember that the Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 6 not to be anxious, but to “seek first His kingdom...” A new outreach team came that Saturday night. I eagerly asked Kathy Hart if there was a check for us from the main office. She said, “I don't know. Are you expecting one?” I said, “Yes! I have been asking my Heavenly Father for one!” When I found Joe Hart, it was true! He had a check for us. Someone, unknown to us and moved by God, had given money to IFM for us. It was awesome! But it was only a small amount. Instead of rejoicing, resting, and trusting, I fretted all the more. The enemy was whispering in my mind that God would only provide small sums for specific things, and again that I was being irresponsible for bringing my family to the mission field without an earthly plan for their provision. The next day we went to church in Mexico with the outreach team. I struggled with anxiety and went forward to pray at the altar with maybe a hundred other people as is the custom of that church. Still afterward I believed what Jesus said in Matthew 6 with my mind, but I didn't have peace. I continued to plead with God for more faith. The next day, in plenty of time for everything to be covered, word came that a gift was on the way that was large enough to cover all our pressing needs. Praise God! It was as if God was saying, “See? You have nothing to worry about. Get to work and let Me be concerned about these little things!”

Since then, the anxiety each month has been less and less and God's peace has been more and more. He has provided, through unsolicited, mostly anonymous gifts, and a steady trickle of software sales, all of our monthly needs and many of our wants. For example, we had been dreaming about getting a larger van someday so we could take other people with us when we go places. In late August God gave us one, free of charge! Clearly our job is to do what He brought us here to do, to let our needs be known to Him, and to trust Him. Wow.

Paul expresses it all perfectly in Philippians 4, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Amen!

--Thaine

Milk

Ian is almost two now, but he still doesn't talk. He does understand quite well though. For example he will quickly obey a request from dad like, “Ian would you go into mommy and daddy's room and get the SanDisk brand 256 megabyte compact flash card from the second shelf of daddy's computer armoire?” Well okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but he will happily obey a request like, “Ian would you close the front door?”

He is just now starting to use recognizable words. He'll say “Daddy” and “hot” and “more?” (like Oliver Twist) and “COOKIE!!” among other things. But he, like his older sister Heather, has his own special word for milk, which is “guck.” We try to get him to say “milk” by having him sound out the parts. “Mmmmm ilk. Milk.” He responds “Mmmm guck!” We are also trying to speak Spanish around here and so we will also hand him a cup and say “leche.” We have yet to hear him say, “Llllll guck!” but I'm sure it's coming.

--Thaine

Getting Settled

  

The primary outreach “season” for 2005 ended in mid-August. We went to Colorado on the bus with the last outreach team and spent two weeks visiting family and friends and doing some minor computer work for IFM. We even got to spend a few days in the mountains with Thaine’s parents While we do have three more outreaches coming up this year, our time since our return to the House of Cornelius has been a wonderful time of settling in. We returned home at the end of August. We were greeted by some enormous pumpkins, hundreds of cucumbers, and a watermelon that all seemed to have appeared in our little garden patch over the two weeks that we were away. During September Daniel sadly lost two pet lizards, including his favorite, and Jeremy lost a dwarf hamster. But they have handled the losses with maturity.

The greatest thing God has done during this time is to help us get settled into the community and the culture. We had been praying that God would lead us to a church where we could build relationships in the community, and that He would lead us to other homeschoolers. Well, He has done both with such abundance!

We have been attending a church in our town called Templo Shalom. We absolutely love it! The music is too loud and is not our taste, the teaching is short and topical, but from the first moments we were there I think we all felt that it was our church home. As the Lord worked it out, the first Sunday we went, there was a baptism followed by a barbeque after the Spanish service. It was a blessed opportunity to meet, fellowship with, and bond with many of the brethren; as well as eat homemade tamales and hot sauce! We love the bilingual aspect of the church and work it out so that Ian comes home after the English service and one of us stays with some older kids for the Spanish service. Finally we love the fact that most of the people in the church live nearby! We actually stand a chance at getting to know them.

Erika has spent some time with the sister of the pastor’s wife at Templo Shalom; Alicia Valenzuela. She and her husband Pablo have five children roughly matched to ours and the Hutchins’, and they homeschool. Their kids are exemplary and a delight to be around. Erika and our kids and Lori and the Hutchins’ kids met the Valenzuelas at a local petting zoo and park in nearby San Elizario. Afterward we met the Valenzeulas downtown for the Fabens homecoming parade, which was a lovely snapshot of small town American life on the Mexican border, where we are clearly in the ethnic minority.

The Mexican flag


The "basic three" ingredients as seen in the Juarez outdoor market


The "basic three" ingredients being transformed into Pico de Gallo

We have always been fans of Mexican food and of spicy food in general, but during this settling time we have gotten to enjoy some wonderful meals with Elvia, our dear sister in the Lord, with our new church, with an El Paso family that has been helping with the food box ministry, and Mexican “fast food“ in Juarez with Jose Luis, the head of IFM Mexico. From Elvia we have learned how to make the most incredible tomatillo guacamole, flour tortillas, and other salsas. We have learned that we need to have several pounds of fresh jalapeño peppers on hand at all times. They are very a versatile food and are delicious raw, chopped, roasted, grilled, or stewed! In fact, there are three essential ingredients; jalapeños, onions, and tomatoes. These three things are in every market, large or small, in great quantities, and arranged to form the Mexican flag. I am sure there are countless layers of significance between the Mexican culture and these ingredients.

We have also had the opportunity to be involved with some things in Mexico, both as a family, and as an IFM representative. For example, Daniel and I went to Mexico several times on errands and ministry business. Daniel did his bookwork in the car and got to spend some delightful time with dad “on the job.“

There is a wonderful orphange that is fairly close by in a small town over the border. The place has a very homey atmosphere with a few dozen delightful children. All of them and the place are dear to the hearts of the IFM staff. Since Tatyana, the Hutchins’ oldest child, has her birthday on the Mexican independence day, her family had planned to have a party and fireworks at the orphange. The plan was delayed due to IFM’s involvement with hurricane Katrina relief work, but we eventually went over and had ice cream and fireworks with all the kids. What a delight! The photo below shows the bonfire and some fireworks. It looks a lot larger than it was due to the long exposure time.

The next outreach is in two weeks. It will have been ten weeks since the last one! When we first arrived here in June, we had about 10 days before the first of a summer full of ministry activity, which completely defined our family life. Now we have had more than six weeks of “normal Norris life“ in which to get our heads back into homeschooling and some degree of family routine. I have been able to write code again both for my own software and for IFM projects. It has been really good to feel established, a part of the community, and have some degree of order. With that order, we now have the blessing and the freedom to engage in team ministry again.

--Thaine